Former Vikings draft bust given another chance by AFC East team

Former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Dru Samia was recently signed to the practice squad of the New York Jets.

During the early part of the 2020 season, Dru Samia was given his first opportunity to start in a game for the Minnesota Vikings. A fourth-round pick of the Vikings in the 2019 NFL Draft, there was a bunch of optimism surrounding Samia and his potential before his first start.

Unfortunately, Samia experienced a significant amount of struggles during his four starts for Minnesota last season.

The young blocker quickly let everyone know that he probably wasn’t ready to be inserted into the starting lineup as he ended up allowing a bunch of pressures and drawing several penalties. Samia‘s most memorable moment from his four games in the Vikings‘ starting lineup came in Week 2 when Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman DeForest Buckner tossed the offensive lineman out of his way like a rag doll.

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Former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Dru Samia signing with New York Jets

Despite only being with Minnesota for two seasons, the team decided to part ways with their former fourth-round pick prior to their Week 1 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this year.

After his incredibly poor performance in 2020, Samia’s departure from Minnesota shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone who paid attention to the purple and gold last season. He just couldn’t keep anyone in front of him, and when it comes to being an offensive lineman, that’s kind of an important aspect of the job.

Luckily for Samia, his dreams of playing in the NFL haven’t been completely crushed just yet. On Tuesday, the New York Jets announced the addition of the former Vikings offensive lineman to their practice squad.

Samia is now following in the path of other disappointing former Minnesota offensive linemen like Pat Elflein and Tom Compton, who both spent time with the Jets after leaving the Vikings.

Will things turn out differently for Samia in New York? Who knows, but if they don’t, it’s hard to imagine he’ll have many more chances to continue his career in the NFL.